Stephen Bourne

Sophisticated Lady – A Celebration of Adelaide Hall

A celebration of a jazz innovator of the Harlem Renaissance and one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers.

"Stephen Bourne befriended Adelaide in her later years and conducted numerous interviews with her, but each approach to a mainstream publisher was met with the same response – “Where’s the drugs, sex, poverty, racism?” That wasn’t Adelaide’s background, so the manuscript sat on the shelf until the Ethnic Communities Oral History Project took an interest. The result is a slender, non-controversial stroll through Adelaide’s life…primarily aimed at those interested in black history rather than black music, but jazz fans will find some useful information." (VJM’s Jazz and Blues Mart)